Combined bale-tie fastening and identification-tag.



No. 7ll,83l, Patented Oct. 2|, I902.

- r. P. DAVIS.

COMBINED BALE TIE FASTENING AND IDENTI FICATION TAG.

(Application filed {lune 24, 1902.)

(No Model.)

m: uunms PETERS ca. PHOTO-Ural)" wasnmmon u c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN P. DAVIS, OF MOBILE, ALABAMA.

COMBINED BALE-TIE FASTENING AND IDENTIFICATION-TAG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 711,831, dated October 21, 1902.

Application filed June 24,1902. Serial No. 112,993. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN P. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mobile, in the county of Mobile and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Bale-Tie Fastoning and Identification-Tag, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cotton-bale ties, and particularly to an identification bale-tie fastening or buckle of such novel and peculiar construction and arrangement relative to the bale-tie that the ends of the latter are held by the buckle in such manner and form as to leave the portion of the buckle containing the identification exposed to view.

The object of the invention is to provide a bale-tie fastening or look having an identification portion which may be made from scrap sheet-iron, and particularly the leavings and usual waste portions of bale ties or bands out OK in giving the bands proper length, according to the bale, and produced in other ways in and about a compress; but whether such leavings are utilized or not it is my purpose to produce a fastening or look out of thin sheet metal bent in a peculiar manner, so that certain portions thereof lie between folded ends of the bale-ties after the latter have been passed through the fastening or look, a hook portion engaging one of said ends and an exposed portion revealing identification marks or letters.

It is well known that considerable embarrassment and inconvenience are experienced by persons to whom cotton or other bales are shipped in lots together to various or several persons in selecting or identifying their bales,

because the tags, if any are employed, are

often detached, misplaced, or lost from the bales. It is to overcome such disadvantages and to furnish a novel device comprising therein a bale-tie fastener and identificationtag adapted to be bound up with the ties in and by a compress that my invention is intended.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, Figure 1 is a perspective View of the fastening or buckle. Fig. 2 is an elevation showing first step in applying the device. Fig. 3 is asimilar view I showing the second step. Fig. 4. is a like view showing the third step. Fig. 5 is an elevation showing the lock pressed and fixed to a bale-tie as it appears after the bale has been pressed. Fig. 6 is a sectional View on the line m 00, Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a modification.

The same numeral references denote the same parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

The bale tie or band 1 is of the ordinary type of sheet-iron usually employed for baling cotton, and is therefore used for the exemplification of my invention; but other forms of ties or bands may be used in connection with my improved device in the same manner and with the same results.

When the fastener or buckle is made from the leavings or cuttings of the bale-ties, as I prefer to do, the metal is folded fiat upon itself to form a rectangular two-part plate 2, the face 3 of which has stamped thereon identification-letters, and constitutes the tag portion of the fastening or buckle. One end 4 of the metal is inclined, and the metal is bent at 5 over the beveled end to form a diagonal cross-arm 6, which overlaps a portion of the plate 2. The other end 5, in which the arm 6 terminates, is cut on an incline with respect to the arm, and at one of the corners of said end is formed an underturned hook 7. A slot 8 is made through the two-part plate 2 for the passage of the bale-tie ends 9 and 10. It is understood that the letters are stamped on the plate before attaching it.

In applying the fastening or look (the tie being in position around the bale, one end 9 of the tie having been previously fastened to the plate, as shown in Fig. 2) the bale is compressed. The end 10 is then passed through the slot from the back of the plate and folded upon the tie at an angle thereto, as shown in Fig. 3. The end 10 is drawn under the arm 6 until it is caught by the hook 7, as shown in Fig. 4. The bale is then taken from the press and the end 10 out to proper length and bent over the arm 6, as shown in Fig. 5.

It will be seen that the arm 6 holds the band firmly against the plate and keeps the tie from slipping back through the slot, and the hook 7 prevents the band from slipping from under the arm. The plate being two-ply furnishes a rigid stiff connection between the ends of the bale-ties, and substantially the only part of the plate exposed is the identification end or face, which forms the tag portion of the device. Thus the lock, buckle, or fastening and the identification-tag are parts one of the other and all possible chance of the tag becoming detached from the bales is entirely avoided.

Referring to the modification shown in Fig. 7, the device is stamped or wrought out of plate metal, and instead of bending the parts, as herein described, the arm 11 projects from the edge of the plate 12, a shoulder 13 is formed at the juncture of the said plate edge for the bale-tie, and the ends of the plate are rounded; otherwise the device is the same as the preferred form and will accomplish practically the same results.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A bale-tie fastener or lock comprising a two-part plate having a slot therethrough, one end of the plate adapted to receive bale-identification marks or letters and the other end of the plate being inclined, an arm extending from the inclined end diagonally from the plate, and a hook at the terminal of said arm.

2. A combination bale-tie fastener or buckle and identification-tag comprising a single piece of sheet metal folded flat to form a rectangular two-ply plate one end thereof adapted to have stamped thereon bale-identification letters and having a slot therethrough, a portion of the metal being bent to overlap the other end of the plate and form an arm projecting diagonally from the plate, and an underturned hook at the end of the arm.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANKLIN P. DAVIS.

Witnesses:

JAs. W. GRAY, D. P. BESTER, J r. 

